


Kiss and Tell

by pearl_o



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Gossip, Kiss and Tell, M/M, Post-Movie(s), Reunions, Wine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-06-08
Packaged: 2018-02-03 22:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1758857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearl_o/pseuds/pearl_o
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a long time since Charles and Raven were able to sit down and really talk to each other, but the awkwardness of the occasion is lessened by a lot of red wine and comparing notes on something they have in common - namely, what Erik was like in bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss and Tell

**Author's Note:**

> This story owes even more to pocky_slash than most of my stories do; not only is it inspired by a line in one of her not-yet-posted stories, but she held my hand and coaxed me into writing it, and some of the best lines in it are her doing as well. ♥

By the time Charles made his way from his study into the front hall, Hank had already become agitated. "No," he was saying loudly to the man at the door as Charles rolled to a stop a few feet back, "you can't see the master of the house, I already _told_ you, we don't need any encyclopedias--"

"Hank," Charles said gently. "Let Raven in."

Hank's head whipped toward him with a shocked expression. Behind him the oily-looking, mustachioed salesman transformed with a flashing ripple into Raven's familiar, blue-scaled form, now wearing a slight smirk. When Hank looked back at her, he made a low, annoyed noise and then stalked off in a manner Charles could only think of as a huff.

"Hello, Charles," Raven said. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. 

If she felt any nervousness or doubt, returning to the house after so many years away, she showed no outward signs of it -- and Charles was not tempted to look deeper, not without her explicit permission, not now, when everything was so fragile and new between them. Her confidence and her assurance was beautiful to see, especially when one compared it with the self-consciousness Charles had seen so often in her growing up.

"That was rather cruel of you, to poor Hank," Charles said, though there was no real censure in his voice. He wasn't surprised when Raven shrugged it off.

"He's a big boy. He'll get over it." She came close enough to stand beside him, reaching down to grasp his hand for one quick squeeze before straightening up again. "I came to see you, Charles. We have a lot of catching up to do."

He hadn't seen her since the incident in Washington, but she had written once, directly afterwards, to let them know Logan was safe. Charles had already been aware she and Logan were together, since the first thing he and Hank had done upon arriving home had been searching for him in Cerebro, planning a rescue -- but of course that hadn't been needed; Raven had already done it. She had told them, too, that Logan remembered nothing of the last few days, of meeting Charles at all, and Charles had mourned that a little, the loss of someone he'd already seen as a friend. They'd meet again, though, if what Logan had said was true; fifty years from now.

Raven had finished the note by saying she would be in touch. And now, six months later, here she was.

Charles couldn't keep the smile from his face. "That we do," he agreed. "Shall I make us some tea?"

Raven laughed. "I think something stronger is called for, don't you?"

"Mm, I think you're right."

"Should I run down to the wine cellar, then?" Raven suggested.

Charles chuckled. "It's long gone, my dear. We needed the room for the below-ground levels, and -- well, this _is_ a school, you know." Not precisely true, Charles reflected as soon as the words left his mouth, but on its way to being true, certainly. It felt good to say. "Still," he continued, "I think I can scrounge us up something appropriate."

"I should hope so," Raven said, following him as he began to make his way toward the kitchen.

* * *

The wine was an excellent decision, Charles decided quite early in the conversation. As glad as he was to see Raven, and as game as Raven seemed to be with him, there was an intense awkwardness between them at first, coming together like this after so long apart. Charles found himself uncharacteristically cautious, hesitating over his words and sentences. It seemed like it would be so easy to say the wrong thing, and anger Raven or offend her. The last thing in the world he wanted was to lose her again, after everything.

But the discomfort and worry couldn't survive the lubrication the alcohol provided, and they slowly began to relax into it, each of them sharing in turn stories from the time they had spent apart. Hopes, dreams, desires: a little shy, not quite the closeness they had once shared, but there, nonetheless.

By the time they were finishing the first bottle, Charles had unwound enough to stop biting his tongue against the question he swore he wouldn't ask.

"Have you heard from Erik at all?" he said, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible.

Raven was sipping, but she gave him a sharp look as she lowered her glass. "No," she said, "and I doubt I'm going to. I think I made it pretty clear to him that we were through, the last time we saw each other."

"Of course," Charles said, nodding. 

Raven continued to gaze at him, her expression a little uncomfortably knowing. "He hasn't come to you, either, or you wouldn't have asked. You could always look him up with Cerebro, couldn't you?"

"No," Charles said. "I wouldn't do that." Erik's life was Erik's life, now. If Erik chose to change -- and after seeing the future, Charles held out hope that he someday would, despite all the terrible things he had seen Erik do -- then Erik knew where to find Charles. But Charles wouldn't chase him. It was in Erik's hands.

Raven was frowning now, down at her own hands. "Charles, you know I -- I didn't know about the two of you. What you were to each other, then. If I had--" She trailed off.

"Darling," Charles said, a little touched, "do you think I blame you for stealing my boyfriend?"

The wording surprised her into a laugh, looking up at his again. "Don't be a jerk, I was trying to be nice!"

"I appreciate it," Charles said. He reached out, covering one of her hands with his own. "But why would you have known? I never told you. I should be sorry, for treating you like you were too young to share something so important to me."

She grinned at him, and it was just as delightful as the first time he saw it in this same kitchen, so many years ago.

"Well, good," Raven said firmly. "He's not worth it, anyway, that asshole. It's not even as if he were any good in bed, to make up for it."

Charles stared at her, astonished, for long enough that he could see Raven's mood start to darken into anger.

"Seriously, Charles, are you really going to-- You said you were done treating me like a child, and now you're going to get all Victorian about me talking about sex. For god's sake--"

"No!" Charles said, scrambling to regain his wits. "No, Raven, that's not it at all. I'm sorry. I was surprised, that's all. You think Erik was bad in bed?"

Raven groaned. "Are you kidding? He was the worst."

Charles eyed his own glass and the small amount remaining in the bottle and made an executive decision: this conversation would definitely require more. 

"Be a dear and grab us more wine, will you?" he said. As Raven rose from the table to obey, he continued, "It's just that 'terrible' wouldn't be the first word that came to mind to describe his capabilities in that arena, is all."

Raven gave him a speculative look as she crossed the kitchen to sit by him again and began to maneuver the corkscrew on the new bottle. "What words would you use, then?"

"Mmm. Generous, maybe. Thorough."

Shaking her head, Raven said, "I can't believe we're talking about the same person." She had succeeded in removing the cork, and filled both of their glasses up. 

"I suppose the first time was awkward," Charles reflected. "But that was mostly because he had never been with a man before, I think. He didn't know what to do, and he didn't want to look foolish."

"But you had? Been with guys before, I mean?"

It was a little ridiculous, perhaps, that he had to take such a large gulp before he felt up to answering that. "Yes. Not as many as women, but... yes. I should have told you, I suppose, but I never thought it worth the risk. I couldn't look in your head to be sure you wouldn't hate me for it."

"Oh, Charles," Raven said, looking a little sad, and something else Charles couldn't quite read. He wondered if they would ever get to the point, someday, where she _would_ allow him inside her head on occasion, like when they were small. He hoped so. 

Charles cleared his throat, forcing the conversation back onto track. "But after that time, you know, I was quite willing to show Erik what I knew, and he was just as wiling to be shown, and I must say, he was a quick learner. A mixture of enthusiasm and natural talent, I thought."

Raven was laughing again. "Oh, god, I can't believe you're telling me in this in your professor voice! It sounds like a student progress report."

"Oh, shut it!" Charles said, unable to keep from laughing himself. "Fine, your turn to share."

"There's not that much to say," Raven started. "It'd be so much easier if he just had a pencil dick or was too fast on the draw, but obviously neither of _those_ were the issue."

"Obviously," Charles agrees, with another sip of wine. He pushed aside the flood of warmth at his own memories -- embarrassing ones, whispering praise and astonishment into Erik's ear as he admired Erik's beautiful cock. Hopefully Raven would put down the flush in his face to the alcohol.

"I don't know, it was like... He's just so hot, you know? He's mind-bogglingly hot. It would literally boggle my mind how hot he was."

Charles nodded sympathetically.

"And he'd stand close, looming over, and talking in that low voice, and being all flirty, and my panties would be melting off -- don't give me that look, it's an expression, Charles, they're metaphorical panties -- and then we'd take it to the bedroom, and then... Terrible. Every time. And the worst part is I kept _falling_ for it!" Raven sighed, rather dramatically. "He was a good kisser. I'll give him that. Just everything else."

"You poor dear," Charles said, shaking his head. 

"I could never tell if he was as bored or embarrassed as I was or not," Raven said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure whether that would make it better or worse."

"Was it simply, well, the main event?" Charles asked. The wine was making both of them bold; he was vaguely aware that he would never have considered having such a personal and private conversation with Raven ever before, would have considered it both mortifying and inappropriate, and yet right now he felt like he was having more fun than he'd had in ages, and closer to Raven than he would have imagined possible this morning. "Did he at least make an effort to get you off with his fingers, or his mouth?'

Erik had wonderful hands. Charles dreamed about them, sometimes, to his consternation. And he had some truly cherished memories of Erik giving him head, all bright lust and irresistible enthusiasm.

"Once," Raven said. "Once, he went down on me, and I tried to guide him, teach him what to do, I really did. But he just looked so lost fumbling around down there that I had to take pity on him and make him stop."

Charles had to set down his glass, covering his face as he laughed helplessly, until there were tears in his eyes. It took a while for him to compose himself enough to straight up in his chair and face Raven again. She was watching him, looking amused and perhaps a little smug.

"Would you believe me," Charles said, still grinning, "if I told you that once, here in this very house, he brought me to orgasm by giving me head, and then twice more while penetrating me after?"

Raven's mouth dropped. "Wow," she said after a moment. "I hate you."

Charles couldn't stop himself from laughing again.

"I feel like the lesson I'm learning here," Raven continued, "is that I had really wanted to have a fulfilling sexual encounter with Erik, I should have grown myself a dick."

"I don't think it could have hurt any, no."

Raven shook her head and took another drink. "He must have had some of the same bad habits with you, though. Like -- okay, when I tried to give him a blowjob, he would always pull my hair, and it drove me crazy. Didn't he do that with you?"

There was no way, now, that Raven could mistake the blush on his face for anything but what it was, Charles was certain. "Yes, but... That might actually be my fault. I rather enjoyed that, and so I might have egged him on with it somewhat."

"Oh my god," Raven muttered.

"I would have taught him better habits if I had realized other people were going to have to live with them," Charles said.

He thought his tone was light enough, but the look Raven gave him suggested otherwise, as did her tone as she said, " _Charles_."

"What, Raven, it was a joke, that's all."

"No," Raven said firmly, "you were getting that look on your face. None of that here. Drink more wine."

He followed her instructions, under her approving eye.

"You're still not over him," Raven said, no question in her voice.

Charles thought about Erik, all the love and anger and hope and fear, all the sweet and bitter memories, that jumped unbidden to his mind every time his name came up. 

"I don't know what means," Charles said after a moment. "I still love him. I don't think he's lost forever. But I'm not waiting on him."

"Hmmm," Raven said. He could see it in her again, now, the difference a decade of living and growing had wrought in her. That strength, that confidence, and even a coolness he didn't recognize. She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it. A few seconds passed before she opened her mouth again and said, "Just remember what a pain he was to sleep with. How he used to steal all the blankets. And how awfully he'd kick and toss and turn all night."

Part of that was his nightmares, Charles thought. Erik had always had the most awful nightmares. He didn't share that with Raven, though; it wasn't his to share.

"Like you said," Charles said with a shrug, "he's an asshole."

"I'll drink to that," Raven agreed, and they clinked their glasses together in acknowledgment.

Raven was gone before Charles went to sleep, with no idea when she would be back again, and the next day Charles's hangover was bad enough to make him sluggish and ornery even before the addition of Hank's disapproving glances -- but it was worth it, after all. All of it was worth it.


End file.
